ActionPad for BlackBerry

I can't tell you how many times I've had to rely on my BlackBerrys memo pad application. Well maybe I could, but that's beside the point. It's always there to help you jot quick, yet important, information down and offers easy accessibility. It sure beats scrounging for scraps of paper, or even an actual memo pad to write on. I also pity the person who has to decipher my handwriting (I'm sure my signature has been mistaken for a prescription on many occasions). Despite it's usefulness for capturing info on the go, its functionality is somewhat limited. As much as we love our BlackBerrys, we may find ourselves saying "Wouldn't it be great if *insert application name* could do…" at times.

ActionPad is a beefier, meatier version of your native MemoPad. In other words, it serves up the functionality of MemoPad, with a side dish of features. These features include: hot keys, categories, desktop synchronization and memo encryption. Let's see you do that with a pad of yellow sticky paper. Read on for more.

About ActionPad

ActionPad, called the action star in professional memo management, was developed by S4BB. You've probably seen some of their other applications mentioned on CrackBerry- NextAction, BlackHole, Menstrual Calendar and Ziplorer, to name a few. ActionPad works on BlackBerrys running OS 4.2 or higher. The current version is 1.0.15 and will require 145 KB. Keep in mind that, despite being called a replacement memo pad application, you must keep your native MemoPad installed in order for Actionpad to run.

the main menu

There are similarities in the main menu between MemoPad and ActionPad. Both show a complete list of memos. They both have a search/find option, which could come in handy with long lists of memos. ActionPad keeps a running total at the top of the menu, as well as a category selection option. You can group memos using these categories - keep business separate from the personal. You can also create custom categories as well -maintain grocery lists, special projects, what you're going to buy Ryan Blundell for his birthday this Thursday, or whatever you like. By selecting a category at the main menu, you choose to only display memos assigned to that category.

creating a new memo

Creating a memo is fairly simple. Once you enable the top tool bar, you can click on the "New" button to begin. As before, memos require a title before you save. ActionPad offers a nice feature that notes the date and/or time that the memo was created in the title. At the top of each memo, you can see a total number of characters used. After coming up with a title for your masterpiece, you can choose a category and fill out the information you want to save. Once you are done, you can save, or send off your memo as an SMS or email. Now there's more than one way to create a memo, especially with ActionPad's integration into most native applications:

Paste to ActionPad – it takes copy and paste to another level. To use, highlight the desired text you want to save. Press the menu button and choose "Paste to ActionPad". You then jump to the application, where the highlighted text has been automatically entered into the body of the memo.

Send to ActionPad – This is what I call a smart memo. Thanks to the integration, the application has access to content mapping. For example; I open an email and want to save the info. Without highlighting any text, I choose "Send to ActionPad". The memo's title contains the email's subject and the body contains the message. This can be done with other content - calendar events, contacts, browser urls, and so on.

Send to ActionPad

encrypting a memo

Have a super secret memo you don't want to share? ActionPad offers you a chance to encrypt each message by using AES encryption with a 128 bit key and an MD5 digest. Each encrypted memo will be marked with a padlock icon. ActionPad also includes hotkeys for faster memo taking and desktop synchronization.

these keys are hawt!

Conclusion

ActionPad definitely adds more power to your memos. With features that include encryption, easy memo sharing, you'll experience simple memo creation. You'll be kicking butt and taking names, addresses, urls or whatever you want to save in a memo. Despite the increased functionality, I'm a little hesitant about the price of $9.99 and sadly, there's no free trial available. For more information, check out ActionPad in the CrackBerry app store.